Slub catcher



Sept- 12, 1939 R. v. oLsoN v- 2,172,566l

SLUB CATCHER Filed May 7, 193s 2 sheets-sheet 1 2J i IN VEN TOR Halie/f 110%@ l BYDMW A TTORNEYS.

R. V. SLUB CATCHER Sept; 12, 1939.

. 2 Shee'ts-Shee, 2

. Filed May '7, 1938 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Jmlmunnnp gage/f I/azm,

Byv v Patented Sept. 12, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEl SLUB CATHEE Application May 7, 1938, Serial No. 206,653

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a slub catcher; and has for one of its objects the provision of a device Which will detect slubs or bunches in yarn and cause a severence of the yarn that a less conspicuous knot may be tied rather than the imperfect yarn be passed on to be Woven to form cloth.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device which While functioning to detect the presence of a slub or bunch in the yarn to also shave off any fly or lint which may extend from the yarn as it passes therethrough.

Another object of the invention is a provide a slub catcher or detector which will operate positively to break the yarn at the location of a slub by means of a separate and individual blade member or the like movable into engagement with the yarn rather than the use of the member itself through which the yarn normally travels in its path of movement to cause such severence.

l Another object of the invention is the provision of a guard Which will prevent engagement of the yarn with the portion Which causes it to be severed until some bunch or slub is pre- 2 sented, thus preventing any unnecessary abrading of the yarn.

Another object of the invention is to hold the cutter blade out of a position for engagement With the yarn by use of a spring of such tension that it Will permit the cutter blade to be readily moved into operating position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a detector blade which Will swing to accommodate itself to varying positions of the yarn with 3 reference to the build-up of the package to which it is being delivered.

Another object of the invention is to provide a detector blade through which the yarn moves which will swing to a position for easy threading when no yarn is running through the same.

Another object of the invention is to providea detachable detector blade and one Which may be easily and quickly assembled and at a minimum expense.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features oi.' construction, as Will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device mounted in position for operation on the guide bar shown in dotted lines over which the yarn usually travels;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view looking at the same side of the device or the front thereof, as shown in Fig. l, but illustrating more definitely the relative position of the parts;

Fig. 3 is a central sectional view on substantially line 3-3 of Fig. 1; 5 Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the frame and nipper blade guard with the nipper blade removed;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the detector blade; lo

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of one section of the detector blade;

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of another section of the detector blade;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the saddle; 15

Fig. 9 is a sectional View of the saddle taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a fragmental side elevation showing the nipper blade and stop therefor;

Fig. 11 is a front elevational view of a modified form of slub catcher device;

Fig. 12 is a section on line I 2-l2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a front elevational view of a still different modilcation of a slub catcher;

Fig. 14 is an elevation of the detector blade of 25 Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is an elevation of a modified form of detector blade;

Fig. 16 is a perspective view of a part of the blade of Fig. 15. The tendency at the present time is to be more critical of the fabrics that are Woven, and accordingly more care and accuracy in the preparation of the yarn for the finished fabric must be had. In the use of slub catchers there is usually provided a. blade which shaves oil lint or small projections from the yarn as it passes therethrough. A bunch or slub or imperfection in the yarn is frequently housed Within the fibers so that the good and strong fibers are on 4o the outside while the imperfection or bunch caused by some foreign particle is located Within the yarn and is completely housed by these good bers, consequently the good fibers will be shaved off at the bunch leaving an imperfect and Weak yarn. It is more desirable that such bunch cause the yarn to break and the ends be pieced by knotting rather than such a condition happening. It is also desirable that the yarn be rather accurately sized as to a maximum diameter. Further, it is desirable that the part that breaks the yarn be a part with which the yarn does not engage to be abraded thereby, and I have arranged a slub catcher obviating these undesirable features by providing that a detector accurate to 55 less than a thousandth of an inch be provided through which the yarn passes, and so arranged that should a bunch or slub occur in the yarn the detector will cause some other part to move, with which the yarn does not engage in its normal passage, which will nip the yarn and cause the yarn to break, thus permitting it to be pierced up and a more perfect and stronger yarn provided than heretofore.

Further, I have provided that the detector blade through which the yarn passes in its normal run will be so swung that should the yarn not be running therethrough it will move to a position for very easy threading; and I have further provided that this .detector blade be such that it may very readily be changed and a. different one substituted therefor for a change in size of yarn which may be run; and the following is a more detailed description of the present embodiment of this invention, illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results may be accomplished:

With reference to the drawings, l5 designates a mounting bar or part of the usual winding machine over which the yarn I6 travels. The slub catcher which I have provided is mounted upon this bar l5 and consists of a framework comprising a sheet metal bodystructure in the form of a Vertical plate I1 which has a narrower strip bent forwardly as at I8 to provide a horizontal portion i9 and then bent as at 2@ to provide a downwardly extending leg 2| with an arcuate recessl 22, thence bent as at 23 to extend rearwardly as at 24 and then upwardly as at 25 to be joined in the vicinity of portion 26 to the plate l1 as a brace. A complemental member 21 having an opening 28 to engage a cut-out and raised hook 29 cooperatesrwith the arcuate portion 22, while a screw 30 extending through an opening in this member 21 and into a threaded opening 3l in the portion 2| serves to mount this body or framework upon the bar l 5. v

A block 32 is rmly secured within the triangular framework above described, such for instance as by welding it therein, and supports a contact bar 33 extending therefrom and also a nipper blade guard 34 having both of its legs 35 and 31 mounted as at 36 in this block.

A nipper blade 46 consists ofa thin or light weight sheet of steel with a sharpened edge 42 and is of a horizontal length greater than any traverse that the yarn may have across the contact bar 33. At intervals along its length as at S3 this blade is cut and pressedout while also at intervals 44 in the body plate I1 the stock is cut and similarly pressed out. These pressed out portions form eyes for the reception of a pivot pin 45 extending through the pressed out eyes 43 and 4G to swingably Ymount the nipper blade 4D in position. This nipper blade is of a vertical depth so that when it swings on its pivot rearwardly, it will engage the contact bar 33 at a flattened portion 39 thereof so as to bind or nip and cut off a piece of yarn at this point of engagement. A spring t6 encircles this pin with one end 41 engaging the frame I 1, while th-e other end 48 engages the nipper blade which causes the nipper blade to swing about its pivot pin 45 forwardly away from the bar,in which angular position of the nipper blade its operating edge is lifted out of contact with the yarn when the yarn I6, see particularly Fig. 3, draws over the bar 33 from the rod l5. The yarn is out of contact with the arms 35 and 31 of the guard 34 but should it tend to raise at the top of the traverse it would be prevented from raising to a position to engage the sharpened edge 42 of the nipper blade by the arms 35 and 31, as shown in Fig. 3, and thus will prevent any abrading of the yarn which might otherwise occur should the yarn draw over this cutting edge.

The nipper blade MI is limited in its movement about its pivot pin 45 under action of spring 46 by a finger 139 which extends outwardly from the frame plate i1 to hook about the side edge of the nipper blade so as to engage the same and hold it in substantially the position shown in Fig. 3. The tension on the spring 46 may be adjusted by withdrawing the pin and winding the spring to provide more convolutions and then returning the pin.

Beneath the overhanging guard lip 50 on the plate l1 the stock of the plate is drawn or cupped rearwardly as at 5|. A pin 52 has a reduced end 53 with its shoulder portion 5d so formed engaging the bottom of this cup 5! while its reduced end 53 extends through the bottom of the cup and is riveted over as at 55 to mount it firmly in position. A saddle designated generally 56 consists of a back wall 51 with flanges 58 extending from the back wall which are slit to provide resilient fingers 59 which flare outwardly at their outer ends, while a bushing 60 extends from the wall 51 and is provided with a bore 6I to be rockably mounted upon the pin 52. The head 62 of the pin 52 maintains the saddle in position, A spring 63 encircles the stud 60 with one end 64 extending into an opening of the cup recess 5l, while the other end 65 of the spring extends into a selected opening 65 in the rear wall of the saddle to hold it in position, with the adjusted tension depending on the hole selected. This spring tends to swing the saddle about its pivotal mounting on the pin 52.

A stop pin 26 is either raised from the stock of the plate l1 or provided as an additional member supported on the plate at a location to engage the downwardly extending portion l2! of the saddle so as to limit the position of this saddle should the detector blade be removed therefrom. Thus, the saddle is always in a convenient position for replacing of the detector blade which may be performed by one hand of the operator.

The detector blade designated generally 66 is rockably mounted on an axis at right angles to the axis of pin 52 in the saddle. This blade is provided at its upper end with arms 61 and 68 which may be sprung toward each other by reason of the Y-shaped formation and which will engage in rounded sockets 69 in the resilient fingers 59 by reason of the ends being correspondingly rounded or spherical shaped. This blade is made in two sections, one section 10 being straight with a hardened and ground inner surface, while the other section 12 is notched as at 13 in a desired amount so that when these two sections are placed together a slot 1li will be provided between them of a desired dimension which may be for illustration ten thousandths of an inch. Similar other b-lades may be provided with a slot or space of, for example, iifteen thousandths of an inch where yarn of this diameter is being used and the blades may be colored for convenience in designation one from the other and may be interchanged at will as desired. The two sections are held together by spring bands 15 and 16 which seat in notches 11, 18 and 19, 86 in the two sections. The resilient fingers enable the blade to be positioned in the saddle by its rst being positioned under guard 31 and then snapped into the fingers.

In Figs. 15 and 16 I have illustrated a modified form of detector blade which I will designate generally |05. This detector blade consists of two sections |06 and |81 which are offset at their upper portions as at |88 and |09 so as to provide a space or fork-like formation. The out-turned ends II 8 and I|| are of a size and shape to t within the resilient fingers 59 of the saddle. The main shank portions of these blades are straight with the section I0`| shorter than the section |06 in a manner similar to one section being shorter than the other, as previously described in the other form of structure. However, instead of notching one end of the shorter section, as in the rst form described, I provide a spacing element II2 which is of such a thickness that the space or gauge I3 of the blade is accurately provided. This spacing element ||2 has extensions ||4 and ||5 which extend beneath the ring-like wire securing means IIB and which secure the sections and spacing element I I2 together. This spacing element is provided with a handle portion I|8 for convenience in positioning the detector blade in position. Blades having spacing members of a different dimension may be formed in the same way as that here illustrated for the forming with identical sections of a variety of sizes similarly to that heretofore described in connection with the first-mentioned detector blade.

The spring 63 will swing the saddle and detector blade with it to the eXtreme position to the right, as shown in Fig. 2, and in this position the section 'l0 or |06 of the blade being longer 'than the section '|2 or IBI will be such that the yarn may be readily threaded by sliding the yarn in along the contact bar 33, it being picked up by the extended portion or IIS of the detector blade and guided inwardly and upwardly to the location where it will run for the beginning of packaging upon a spool, the blade swinging outwardly of the spool or to the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, as the package builds up. Should a bunch or slub occur it will catch the edges of the slot `|4 or I I3 moving the detector blade rearwardly and the nipper blade with it into position against the contact bar 33 and cut 01T the yarn closely adjacent to the bunch which may be removed and the thread knotted and operation again resumed. The knots are less objectionable in fabric, whereas the bunches and slubs are objectionable and cause imperfect fabric to be formed.

The shape of the body plate I1 is such that yarn engaging the lip 58 will be guided by the edge of plate I'I out to the end of the guard 34, and

then as the plate is shaped to be within the guard 34 at its end the yarn may be slid along the guard without any interruption. The short .end of the detector blade is of a length so that it will not be engaged by the yarn sliding along the guard into engagement with the longer portion of the detector blade when the same is moving into position.

A further feature of the arrangement of the detector blade traversing back and forth along the nipper blade is that the rubbing of the detector blade on the edge of the nipper blade, as shown in Fig. 3, will serve to maintain the nipper blade always sharpened and thus a keen cutting edge is always provided.

In the modification of Figs. 11 and 12, the detector comprises a sheet of stock having an opening 8| to loosely fit upon the shank 82 of a bolt or headed screw and is prevented from disengagement therewith by the head 83 thereof. This bolt forms a pivotal mounting for the detector which is swung about the pivotal mounting 8| by a Wire spring 84 having a coiled or loop portion 85 engaging the arm at the upper side of the pivot 8| as by the finger portion 86 thereof. The coil in the spring is suflicient to tend to swing the arm about the pivot point 8| to move the lower portion of the blade to the right, as viewed in Fig. 11, or in a position similar to the tendency of the spring 63, previously described, to move the detector blade 66. 'Ihis spring is held in position by being clamped by the head 87 of the bolt 88 positioned in the plate While this spring continued on and is provided with an arcuate portion 89 and end 90 to engage the nipper blade 48 and force it about its pivotal mounting 45 against its stop 49 in a manner previously described. This detector blade 38 has an enlarged portion 9| and a bifurcated portion comprising arms 92 and 93 a little longer than the arrn 92 for the engagement and guiding of the yarn I into the slot 94 between these arms 92 and 93 which are formed to provide the slot 94 of a denite width, such for instance as ten thousandths of an inch, if this size of yarn should be run. Should a different size of yarn be operated upon the entire arm 80 will be interchanged with a different one having a different width slot.

In Fig. 13 I have illustrated a detector blade 95 which is offset as at 96 so as to provide a weighted portion which tends to swing the entire arm to the right, as shown in Fig. 13. Thus, no spring is needed for swinging this detector blade to such position. This detector blade 95 is provided with winged portion clamps 91 and 98 which bind arms 99 and Ill!) between them in a manner to provide a slot IIJI for the yarn I6. Here again this entire arm would be interchanged with another arm by changing the screw mounting |82 therefor which fits loosely through a hole |83 in the detector blade, permitting it to rock toward the nipper blade 40 of the device, which blade is as previously set forth in connection with Figs. l to 10.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a slub catcher, a body frame having a contact bar over which the yarn is guided, a nipper blade mounted on said frame for movement toward said bar, a detector blade having an opening through which the yarn travels, means comprising resilient arms for detachably mounting said detector blade for movement toward said nipper blade to engage and move said nipper blade to sever the yarn.

2. In a slub catcher, a body frame having a contact bar over which the yarn is guided, a nipper blade mounted on said frame for movement toward said bar, and a detector blade having an opening through which the yarn travels, said nipper blade being beveled to provide its cutting edge adjacent said detector blade, means for mounting said detector blade for sliding movement along the cutting edge of said nipper blade to maintain said nipper blade sharp for severing the yarn.

3. A detector blade for a slub catcher comprising a pair of separate arms diverging at their 75 upper ends to provide a resilient fork, said arms being in contact along the major portion of the blade, and one of said arms having a notch to provide a slot between the arms for the passage of yarn therethrough.

4. In a slub catcher, a body frame having a contact bar over which the yarn is guided, a nipper blade having a sharp cutting edge mounted on said frame for movement toward said bar, a guard comprising an arm in front and an arm in back of said blade to prevent contact of said yarn with said cutting edge of the blade when in its position away from said bar, a detector blade having an opening through which the yarn travels, and means for mounting said detector blade for movement toward said nipper blade to engage and move said nipper blade to sever the yarn, said detector blade being located between said guard arms and between one guard arm and nipper blade.

5. In a slub catcher, a body frame having a contact bar over which the yarn is guided, a nipper blade mounted on said frame for movement toward said bar, and a detector blade having an opening through which the yarn travels, said nipper blade being beveled to provide its cutting edge adjacent said detector blade means for mounting said detector blade tofollow the traverse of the yarn and at the same time slide along the cutting edge of said nipper blade to maintain said nipper blade sharp for severing the yarn.

6. In a slub catcher, a body frame having a contact bar over which the yarn is guided, a nipper blade mounted on said frame for movement toward said bar, and a detector blade having an opening through which the yarn travels, said nipper blade being beveled to provide its cutting edge adjacent said detector blade means for mounting said detector blade to follow the traverse of the yarn and at the same time slide along the cutting edge of said nipper blade to maintain said nipper blade sharp for severing the yarn, said blades also being movable in the direction of the travel of the yarn to sever the yarn upon a slub engaging said detector blade.

'7, In a slub catcher, a body frame, a nipper blade, a saddle movably mounted on said body, a pair of relatively resilient arms extending from said saddle, and a detector blade, positioned between said arms for moving said nipper blade, whereby removal of the detector blade is easily provided.

8. In a slub catcher, a body frame, a nipper blade, a saddle movably mounted on said body, a pair of relatively resilient arms extending from said saddle, each provided with locating bearing means for pivotally mounting the detector blade, and a detector blade having outwardly extending portions positioned between said arms located in said bearing for moving said nipper blade, whereby removal of the detector blade is easily provided.

9. In a slub catcher, a body frame, a nipper blade, a saddle movably mounted on said body and provided with a plurality of openings, a coiled spring about said saddle having one end secured to the body and the other end relatively locatable in anyone of said plurality of openings to variably tension the spring and tend to rotate the saddle in one direction, a detector blade positioned in said saddle for moving the nipper blade when engaged by a slub.

10. In a slub catcher a body frame having a pivot pin bearing, a nipper blade having a pivot pin receiving portion, a pivot pin removably positioned in said body frame bearing and blade to hingedly mount the same, a helical spring coiled about said pin and having one end engaging the body and the other end engaging said blade to lift the blade, said spring being adjustable by withdrawal of the pin and winding the spring to provide more convolutions about said pin.

11. In a slub catcher, a body frame having a contact bar over which the yarn is guided, a nipper blade having a sharp cutting edge mounted on saidframe for movement toward said bar, a guard comprising an arm in front and an arm in back of said blade to prevent contact of said yarn with said cutting edge of the blade when in its position away from said bar, a detector blade having an opening through which the yarn travels, and means for mounting said detector blade for movement toward said nipper blade to engage and move said nipper blade to sever the yarn, said detector blade being located between said guard arms and between one guard arm and nipper blade.

ROBERT V. OLSON. 

